Lacing needle



United States Patent LACING NEEDLE Arah A. Walker, Temple, Tex.

Application December 8, 1954, Serial No. 473,848

1 Claim. (Cl. 223-103) The present invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in needles embodying a construction for easily and quicklyattaching a cord thereto for lacing the cord through preformed openingsprovided in moccasins during the manufacture thereof, and for otherpurposes.

An important object of the invention is to provide a needle of hollowconstruction having a seam extending longitudinally thereof and formedwith an opening in one side of the needle adjacent its rear end toreceive the tip of a lacing cord and providing means for locking thecord to the needle.

Another object of the invention is to construct the rear portion of theneedle with a longitudinally elongated opening to receive the tip of alacing cord and forming a restricted opening rearwardly of thelongitudinal opening to accommodate the cord to extend the latterrearwardly of the needle and further to form the rear end of the needlewith an inwardly projecting locking tongue to engage and lock the tip ofthe cord to the needle.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character ofsimple and practical construction, which is efficient and reliable inuse, neat and attractive in appearance, relatively inexpensive tomanufacture and other wise Well adapted for the purpose for which thesame is intended.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the needle in use in themanufacture of a moccasin;

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the needle;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on a line 3-3 of Figure2;

Figures 4 and 5 are enlarged transverse sectional views taken,respectively, on the lines 44 and 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a side elevational view showing the initial step in placingthe tip of a lacing cord in the opening of the needle;

Figure 7 is a similar view showing the cord locked in the needle;

Figure 8 is a similar view showing the initial step in removing theneedle from the cord; and

Figure 9 is a similar view showing the final removal step.

Referring now to the drawing in detail wherein for the purpose ofillustration, I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention,the numeral 5 designates a tapered hollow needle which may beconstructed of metal ice or other suitable material and formed with alongitudinal seam 6.

The rear or diametrically enlarged portion of the needle is formed inthe region of the seam 6 with a longitudinally elongated opening or slot7 and the rear portion of this slot is partially closed by a pair ofopposed lips 8 and 9 forming a restricted passage 10 between the lips.An inwardly projecting tongue 11 is formed at the rear end portion ofthe needle and in spaced relation rearwardly of the lips 8 and 9 to forma rear opening 12 at the side of the needle rearwardly of the elongatedopening 7. The tongue 11 preferably is curved toward the front end ofthe needle, as shown more clearly at 13 in Figures 2 and 3 of thedrawing.

A lacing cord 14 is formed with a tapered tip 15 of a length adapted toenter the elongated opening 7 and the flexible character of the cordenables the same to pass between the opposed lips 8 and 9 by Way of therestricted passage ii) to position the cord and tip inside the hollowneedle and with the cord extending rearwardly of the needle through therear opening 12. After the cord and tip have been placed in the needle,the cord is pulled rearwardly until the rear end of the tip is engagedby the tongue 11, which prevents further rearward movement of the cordand locks the cord and tip in position inside the rear end portion ofthe needle.

The needle may then be used for lacing the cord through previouslyformed openings 16 in a moccasin 17 to thus secure the parts of themoccasin in assembled relation to each other.

In order to remove the cord 14 and tip 15 from the needle, the tip ismoved forwardly beyond the opposing lips 3 and 9, and the cord is thenpulled outwardly through the restricted passage 10 as shown in Figure 8of the drawing, and the tip 15 may then be removed through the elongatedopening 7.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A needle comprising a hollow tapered body having an open rear end andalso having a longitudinally elongated opening in one side adjacent itsopen rear end, said elongated opening being adapted to receive the tipof a cord for positioning the same longitudinally in the needle,opposing lips adjacent the rear open end of the needle and in the regionof the elongated opening to form a restricted passage between the lipsadapted for the entrance of the cord, said tip being slidable behind thelips by a rearward pulling force subjected to the cord to retain the tipin a longitudinal position in the rear open portion of the needle, and aradially inwardly projecting tongue on the needle rearwardly of the lipsand engaging and obstructing removal of the tip at the rear open end ofthe needle, said tongue being spaced rearwardly from the lips to form anopening between the lips and tongue through which the cord extendslongitudinally rearwardly of the needle.

Switzerland Mar. 1, 1935 Great Britain May 12, 1948

